The wreckage of a house in Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Nopphitam district is seen after it was hit by devastating flash floods. More rains and flooding are expected to last through Monday.

South braces for more rain as infrastructure overwhelmed

national December 08, 2017 01:00

By The Nation

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OFFICIALS in Nakhon Si Thammarat were in a race against time yesterday as major infrastructure was overwhelmed by flooding and more torrential rains were expected.

Urgent efforts were underway to drain the runway at the province’s main airport, which was inundated by runoff since late Wednesday night, and also to check aviation safety systems, airport director Suksawat Sukawanno said yesterday.

Flooding forced the airport to close as a safety precaution yesterday pending an assessment today, he added.

Airports Department chief Darun Saengchai said the airport had been closed since 1.50am yesterday and his department was monitoring the situation to determine when it could reopen.

In Songkhla, eight trains transiting Nakhon Si Thammarat Station, including one originating in Bangkok, were suspended for another two days as a flooded 200-metre railway section was to be repaired by tonight. The railway would also be subjected to a risk assessment, said Southern Train Operations centre head Banhan Kobyayang.

She recounted her feelings yesterday after flash floods struck the day before and brought down the house her family had lived in for more than 14 years.

“I worked very hard to own it. Now, there is nothing left,” she said, coming to grips with the life-changing event that had left her and her three children homeless. There had never been such serious flooding in the area before, she said.

A 1.59-minute video clip of forest runoff sweeping away homes in the Wat Tho Ek area of Phrom Khiri district, which was posted by a Facebook user last night, received an outpouring of online support.

At least 170 families saw their houses still submerged yesterday.

Residents were evacuated to a local temple and officials had provided initial aid.

In Tambon Khao Kaew of Lan Saka district, landslides two days ago reminded residents of a major landslide two years ago. Many claimed they heard the mountain “crack” during flash floods yesterday that poured a torrent of water into a river, sweeping away shacks selling souvenirs on the riverbank.

Authorities planned to check the area to determine whether it was safe to occupy.

Meanwhile, Muang Nakhon Si Thammarat Municipality warned downstream residents in Tambon Na Sai, Na Khian and Pak Poon of potential health problems linked to water that might leak from a pond that had became polluted by a nearby garbage dump.

Overflow from Khlong Tha Chak yesterday threatened to submerge the pond and disperse the polluted water as officials were using backhoes to build earthen dikes between the canal and the pond and pumping polluted water into a wastewater treatment system.